Railway-switch.



G. 0. JOHNSON.

y RAILWAY SWITGH.4 APPLIUATION FILED DEU. 12, 1908. RENEWED MAB. 19,1910.

Patented 0011,18, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

rn: NoRRls PETERS co., wAsmNm'oN, n. c.

C. C. JOHNSN. RAILWAY SWITH.' PPLIUATION FILED 11110.12, 1908. RBNBWBD11.411. 19, 1910. Y

4 Patented' O'C. 18, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

CYRUS C. JOHNSON, OF TAYLORVILLE, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Application led December 12, 190B,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CYRUs C. JOHNSON, a citizenV of the United States,residing at Taylorville, in the county of Christian and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Railway-Switch, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to railway switches and more particularly tomeans for actuating the same, the mechanism being especially adapted foruse in combination with street railway systems.

The invention is of that type disclosed in an application filed by me onAugust 31st, 1908, Serial No. 451,000, and wherein means are employedbelow the track for actuation by a member carried by the car approachingthe switch, whereby the tongue of the switch can be shifted in a desireddirection without the necessity of bringing the car to a stop prior topassing over the switch.

The object of the invention is to provide mechanism of this characterutilizing a single slot for the reception of the actuating arm carriedby the car, whereas devices of this character such as heretoforeemployed have necessitated the use of two slots.

Another object is to simplify the mechanism utilized for transmittingmotion to the switch tongue, said mechanism being simple durable andcompact and capable of being readily placed in position. N

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of certainnovel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter'more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings z-Figure 1 is a plan View of a railway switch, theswitch-actuating mechanism being also shown in plan, but the casings orhousings thereof being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section through the apparatus taken on the line A-B Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a section on line C-D Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view,partly in side elevation and partly in section, through the drive diskand sprocket of the mechanism. Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the disk.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1, 1, designates thetrack rails and Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 18, 1910.

Serial No. 467,254. Renewed March 19, 1910. Serial No. 550,512.

2 indicates the movable switch tongue. Arranged between the rails and inadvance of the switch is an elongated trough-like guide member 3, theend walls of which are inclined downwardly toward each other andprovided with a series of drain openings 4 whereby the accumulation ofmoisture within the guide device is prevented. A substantially V-shapedhousing 5 extends inwardly from one wall of the guide casting 3, and aslot 6 is formed in that end of the housing adjoining the guide casting,said slot being parallel with the top of the casting and the wallsthereof constituting guides for a lever 7 fulcrumed as at 8 in one endportion of the housing, while the other end of said lever is designed toproject across the slot when the lever is in its normal position,although, by swinging the lever out of its normal position, the free endthereof can be withdrawn from across the casting, as indicated by dottedline in Fig. 1. A tubular casing 9 extends from the housing 5 and has aspring 10 fastened therein, one end of the spring being attached to thelever 7 so as to hold it normally across the casting 3. This spring alsoserves t-o hold the lever normally pressed against a cushioning device11 secured within the housing 5.

Located between the rails 1 close to the switch and below the surface ofthe street is a housing 12. This housing is extended laterally at oneend as indicated at 13 for the recept-ion of a shiftable bar 14 mountedon rollers 15 which are journaled within the housing. This bar 14 has apitman 16 pivotally connected to it, one end of the pitman being mountedupon a wrist-pin 17 extending upwardly from a disk 18. This disk has astem 19 extending through the center of a sprocket wheel 20 designed torotate freely upon the stem, there being a ratchet wheel 21 secured tothe stem and designed to be engaged by a pawl 22 for the purpose ofpreventing the disk 18 and stem 19 from rotating in one direction.Angular recesses 23 are formed in the lower face of the disk close tothe periphery thereof and at diametrically opposite points, two of theserecesses being utilized and the saine being designed to be successivelyengaged by a spring-pressed pawl 24.

A chain 25 is mounted on the sprocket 2O and one end thereof isconnected by means 12 and has a chain or oth-er flexible device of aspring 26 with one of the lateral eX- tensions 13 of housing 12 whilethe other end portion of the chain extends at right angles to the bar 14and is connected by means of a cable, rod or other suitable device, 27with the lever 7, said device 27 being designed to work within a tubularconnection 28 interposed between and secured to the housings 5 and 12.The bar 14 is secured in any suitable manner to the tongue 2.

In order to effect the manual actuation of the switch operatingmechanism, a drum 29 is mounted for rotation within the housing 30attached to it, and also to the chain 25, said device being designed tobe wound upon the drum for the purpose of pulling the connection 27longitudinally and thus allowing the spring 26 to throw the switchtongue in the manner hereinafter set forth. The upper neck or trunnion31 of the drum 29 is angular in transverse section and designed toproject into a correspondingly shaped socket formed in one end of a stem32 mounted to rotate within the top plate 33 of housing 12. A head 34 issecured to the upper or exposed end of this stem and has a lever 35pivotally connected to it, both the lever and the head being normallyseated within a. recess 36 formed in said top plate 33.

As shown particularly in Fig. 1, that end of the guide casting 3farthest removed from the switch tongue 2 is enlarged laterally, thewalls of the groove or recess within said casting converging graduallytoward the center of the casting, so as to efficiently guide theactuating arm hereinafter described into engagement with the lever 7.

The mechanism utilized for actuating lever 7 is preferably of theconstruction shown in my application hereinbefore described, the sameconsisting of an arm 37 pivotally connected to a car 38 and provided, atits lower end, with a hook 39. A spring 40 is provided for holding thehook 39 normally above and out of contact with the ground, and anysuitable means may be utilized for shifting the arm 37 downwardly so asto cause it to travel within the guide casting 3. This shiftingmechanism may consist of a bell crank lever 41, one arm of which isconnected to the arm 37 by means of a link 42, while the other arm ofsaid lever is connected by a rod 43 with a bell crank lever' 44,

designed to be actuated in any preferred manner as, for example, by thedepression of a knob 45 connected to the lever.

When a car approaches the switch and it is desirable to shift the tongue2, the motorman or other person on the car having charge of theswitch-throwing mechanism, depresses the knob 45 so as to force thehooked end of arm 37 against the ground. When the car arrives above thecasting 3 the hook 39 will travel into the groove or recess therein and,by continuing the downward pressure on the knob 45, the hook 39 will becaused to travel downward upon the inclined bottom of the casting 3until it is brought into engagement with the lever 7. As the carcontinues its movement toward the switch the hook 39 will pull the lever7 out of its normal position and into the position indicated by dottedlines in Fig. 1, this movement causing the free end of the lever to passout of the slot or groove within the casting and thus permit the hook 39to becomedisengaged therefrom. When the lever 7 is actuated in thismanner the spring`26, which is normally under stress, pulls the chain 25and causes the sprocket 20 to rotate one hundred and eighty degrees inthe direction of the arrows in Figs. 1 and 4. The pawl 24 will thus bedepressed and move out of the recess 23 in which it is seated unt-il itassumes a position within the opposite recess 23. The disk 18 remainsstationary during this movement of the sprocket. As soon as lever 7 isreleased from engagement with the hook 39 the spring 10 operates toreturn it to its normal position, and, as this spring is of greaterstrength than the spring 26, it will of course return the`chain 25 toits initial position, and, at the same time, place the spring 26 underits normal stress. During the return movement of the sprocket 2O causedby this return of the chain 25, the pawl 24 produces a one-halfrevolution of the disk 18 and the pitman 16 will thus shift the bar 14in one direction asufticient distance to throw the switch-tongue.

It will be seen that the switch mechanism will always operate in thesame manner, no matter what the speed of the car may be. The throwing ofthe switch-tongue is accomplished by the spring 10 and the partsoperated thereby and the co-action of the parts carried by the car andthe lever 7 is merely utilized for the purpose of setting theswitch-actuating mechanism, so that as soon as the lever 7 is releasedthe spring 10 will shift the switch-tongue. There is thus no danger ofthe mechanism being injured by a car approaching the switch at highspeed.

When it is desired to shift the switchtongue by hand it is merelynecessary to swing the lever 35 upwardly out of recess 36 and thenrotate the drum 29 therewith so as to cause the chain 30 to wind uponthe drum and pull lever 7 into the position indicated by dotted lines inFig. 1. The switch-throwing mechanism will thus be set in the mannerhereinbefore described, and as soon as the drum is returned to itsnormal position the spring 10 will operate to shift the switch-tongue.

It is ofcourse to be understood that various changes may be made in theconstruction `and arrangement of the parts without departing from thespirit or sacricing the advantages of the invention.

What is claimed is 1.- A railway switch comprising a shiftable switchmember, mechanism movable in one direction for shifting said member,means for automatically moving said mechanism in said direction, acar-actuated device for overcoming the action of said means, and meansfor automatically setting the mechanism during the actuation of saiddevice by a car, to shift the switch member during the movement of saidmechanism to normal position.

2. A railway switch comprising a shiftable switch member, mechanism forautomatically shifting the same into active position, said mechanismincluding` means for holding the said mechanism yieldingly in apredetermined position, means for relieving the mechanism from theaction of said holding means to shift the switch member into activeposition, and means for automatically setting said mechanism whenrelieved of the holding means.

3. A railway switch comprising a shiftable switch member, mechanism forautomatically shifting the same into active position, said mechanismincluding means for holding the same yieldingly in a predeterminedposition, means for overcoming the action of said holding means to shiftthe switch member into active position, and means for automaticallysetting the mechanism while relieved of the action of the holding means.

4. A railway switch comprising a shift-l able switch member, mechanismfor automatically shifting the same into active position, said mechanismincluding means for holding it yieldingly in a predetermined position,means for overcoming the action of said holding means, and means toshift the switch member into active position for automatically settingthe mechanism when relieved of the action of the holding means, saidholding means operating to shift the mechanism and switch member, whenreleased.

5. A railway switch comprising a shiftable switch member, revolublemeans for actuating the same, ratchet mechanism for imparting anintermittent revoluble movement to said means, and automatically andmechanically operated means for actuating the ratchet mechanism inopposite directions alternately.

6. A railway switch comprising a shiftable switch member, revolublemeans for shifting the same, ratchet mechanism for imparting anintermittent rotation to said means, mechanically opposed means forautomatically shifting said ratchet mechanism in opposite directionsrespectively, and mechanically operated means for overcoming the actionof one of said automatically operated means to permit the actuation ofthe other automatically operated means.

7. A railway switch comprising a shiftable switch member, ratchetmechanism, means actuated by said mechanism for shifting the member,opposed connected elastic devices for actuating the ratchet mechanism,one of said devices being held normally under stress by the otherdevice, and means for relieving the device under stress to permitactuation of the mechanism thereby.

S. A railway switch comprising a shiftable switch member, revolublemeans for actuating the same, ratchet mechanism for imparting anintermittent rotation to said means, mechanically opposed elasticdevices for actuatingthe ratchet mechanism, one of said devices beingheld normally under stress by the other device, and means for relievingthe device of the stress to permit actuation of the ratchet mechanismthereby.

9. In a railway switch a shiftable switch member, revoluble means foractuating the same, ratchet mechanism for imparting an intermittentrotation to said means, mechanically opposed elastic devices foralternately actuating the ratchet mechanism, oneV of said devices beingheld normally under stress by the other device, and car-operated meansfor releasing the device under stress to permit actuation of themechanism thereby. l

10. In a railway switch a shiftable switch member, a revoluble actuatingdevice, a pitman connection between said device and the switch member,ratchet mechanism for intermittently rotating said device, mechanicallyopposed elastic devices for actuating the ratchet mechanism, one of saiddevices being held normally under stress by the other device, and meansfor releasing the device under stress to permit actuation thereby of theratchet mechanism.

11. In a railway switch a shift-able switch member, a revolubleactuating device, a pitman connection between said member and device,ratchet mechanism for imparting an intermittent rotation to said device,mechanically opposed elastic actuating devices, a connectiontherebetween and engaging and disposed to actuate the ratchet mechanism,one of said elastic devices being held normally Vunder stress by theother device, and means for relieving the device under stress to permitactuation thereby of the ratchet mechanism in one direction.

12. In a railway switch a shiftable switch member, a slidable barshiftable therewith, a revoluble actuating device, a pitman connectionbetween said device and bar, ratchet mechanism for impartingintermittent rota- CIY tion to the revoluble device, mechanicallyopposed elastic actuating devices, a connection therebetween engagingand disposed to actuate the ratchet mechanism, one of said elasticdevices being held normally under stress by the other device, and meansfor relieving the device under stress to permit actuation thereby in onedirection of the mechanism.

13. In a railway switch a shiftable switch member, a disk mounted forrotation adjacent said member, means for transmitting` motion to themember from the disk, means for holding the disk against movement in onedirection, pawl and ratchet mechanism for imparting an intermittentrotation to the desk in the opposite direction, mechanically opposedelastic devices, a connection therebetween engaging and disposed toactuate the pawl and ratchet mechanism, one of said elastic devicesbeing held normally under stress by the other device, and means forrelieving the device under stress to permit actuation thereby of thepawl and ratchet mechanism and the revoluble device.

14. In a railway switch a shiftable switch member, revoluble meansmounted adjacent thereto, a connection between said means and the switchmember for transmitting motion to said member, pawl and ratchetmechanism for imparting an intermittent rotation to said revolublemember, mechanimit actuation thereby of the pawl and ratchet mechanismand the revoluble device, and means for holding said revoluble deviceagainst movement under the action of the other elastic device.

l5. In a railway switch a shiftable switch member, means forautomatically shifting said member into either open or closed position,means for automatically setting the shifting means and holding itagainst operation, and car-operated means for assisting said settingmeans and for subsequently releasing the shifting means to automaticallythrow the switch into either open or closed position.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afxedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

. CYRUS C. JOHNSON. Witnesses J. H. MORGAN, T. II. WEITZEL.

devices being held normally under stress by the other device, andcar-operated means` for relieving the device under stress to per-1`

